I've been looking at new '05 hybrids. It occurred to me only yesterday that in all my shopping I have yet to see a price list pasted in the window of any of them. Having been quoted sales prices thousands of dollars above the MSRP, I wonder if the stickers are being removed so the potential customer can't detect the overage?
In particular, several online data sites report the Prius's MSRP as $21,275 and the invoice price (the nominal cost to the dealer) as $19,590. Quotes to me have been in the $24,000 range for the unadorned single trim level in which the Prius is available.
I'm as happy as anyone to see free enterprise flourishing, but it happens there's a US law against removing the price sticker until the vehicle is sold. It's not a toothless law, either. It's a Class A misdemeanor with a permitted $100,000 fine for an individual (twice that for an organization) and/or up to a year in jail... per incident.
The federal law in question is the Automobile Information Disclosure Act or more commonly the Monroney Act (after its author) or the Price Sticker Act. A summary of its provisions can be found at
This is occurring in western New York state. What's the practice where you are?